Good Ideas

I often wonder if things are a good idea...usually after they've happened, or after it's too late to change my mind, but I spend a lot of time analysing things after they've happened, and wondering if I should have done something differently.

Many of these occasions, well generally the most serious ones, happen while I'm travelling. Like when I decided it would be a good idea to travel overland from Ethiopia to Kenya. Northern Kenya is not known for being the nicest place, and we met a Kenyan in Ethiopia who said he'd sell his house to buy a flight ticket between Addis Ababa and Nairobi, instead of having to travel overland.

Anyway, in the spirit of adventure, and the fact that flights were £600 and overland transport about £30, we went overland. Apart from running out of money, as there aren't any cashpoints in Ethiopia, and the bus men were demanding ridiculous amounts from us, travel through Southern Ethiopia to the Kenyan border went pretty smoothly.

Then, we were so happy to be able to get money out in Kenya and actually eat something, that we didn't really think too much about the next part of the journey. We happily paid the rip off price of about £20 for a bus ticket to Isiolo, only to find out the next morning that there are no buses, as the road is much too dangerous. Instead, we had to travel in a coffee bean truck, complete with armed guards, and we all had to travel in convoy as we were told by the driver, Moustafa, that we had a 50% chance of being shot at.

Brilliant. This would have been a very very good time to change our minds...except that meant another 2 days on Ethiopian buses, and then a flight to Nairobi. Or staying in the truck and hoping people got shot yesterday. Neither option looked good.

As the journey to Isiolo was only supposed to take 17 hours, we stuck with it and hoped for the best. Apart from the fact that there was no real road, so it was like driving over corrugated iron, which then turned into thick mud when it rained, we made it to Isiolo in one piece, all alive, and only about 17 hours late. Score!

The next morning, we took what we thought was the easy part of the journey, which was getting a matatu to Nakuru. We left at 6am, and drove for 5 minutes...before we discovered that the road was closed as there was a blockade - on fire - as someone had been killed during the night, and the police couldn't decide whose area it was in, and so were all ignoring it. After about 6 hours of waiting and waiting, we eventually paid more to drive over someone's land and take a detour but eventually made it to Nakuru. Only 36 hours late, which is not too bad for African timing, and most importantly we were alive!

My latest idea, which made me think of this, was that my house mate lost his keys. On my way home, I went to the locksmiths which is underneath our flat to get some more cut. As I was waiting, I thought, "Is it really the best idea to ask someone who works beneath our flat, and so knows where we live, to cut us some spare keys. What if they made extras and then robbed us when they saw us leave?"

Luckily, I didn't have to decide whether to go through with it or not, as the locksmith seemed utterly confused by my set of keys, and told me he didn't have any of a suitable shape or size to cut me some new ones. Problem solved!

Micronations

I received a book from a friend for my 22^nd Birthday (well I sort of asked for it) which was Lonely Planets ‘Micronations’. I thought that it was like any other Lonely Planet, and that it was a travel guide to some of the smallest countries on the planet. I wasn’t wrong….but it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting.

My grandparents and parents have all done a lot of travelling and so I think my desire to explore and visit other countries is something that I was born with. I have always been fascinated with the teeny tiny dots in the ocean and always fantasized about visiting them, and it being a really exciting new place. I was especially excited, when in one of my school Geography lessons, I discovered that there was a Bristol Island (in South Georgia in the South Sandwich Islands). I never really did any more research, just got excited that maybe one day I could visit this other Bristol, and that’s about as far as I got.

(Not the most hospitable looking place)

Anyway, I was sure that my new Lonely Planet was going to be a guide book to places like this, and was a little disappointed when it turned out to be about even smaller countries….that don’t technically exist.

The product description for this book is:

"Micronations" takes a look at some of the most curious places on the planet. Designed to generate interest in the strange world out there, this is a fully illustrated, humorous mock-guidebook to the nations people create in their own backyards - most of which can be visited (for example, Sealand, an island off the coast of Britain; and Hutt River Province, which seceded from Western Australia in 1970). A global selection of micronations are profiled, complete with facts and figures, cultural information, Things to See and Do, and Getting There and Away sections, as well as interviews with the quirky characters who've set themselves up as presidents, emperors and serene highnesses. The book also features full-colour photographs, maps, flags and stamps etc, and an entertaining introduction detailing the historical, philosophical and most definitely satirical aspects of the micronation phenomenon. For lovers of humour, trivia and ephemera, this is a gift book, reference text and travel guide rolled into one.

So, as one of the places listed is in Portsmouth, what else to do but head off and find it? The Grand Duchy of the Lagoan Isles, covers 3 islands in the middle of Baffins Pond, which are mainly (well, only) inhabited by ducks. Yet, it has a website, http://lagoan-isles-gov.tripod.com/ crest, national anthem, and most importantly, you can become a citizen.

I thought it was pretty cool, my friends were unimpressed.

Another place I've always had some strange interest in going to is Nauru. I don't know why. There don't seem to be any tourist attractions, it just seems to be a fascinating place. I think that around the time that I discovered where it was, on a mission to find the furthest place from the UK that I could visit, the airline had been suspended as the plane had been reposessed, so I pretty much couldn't even get there!

When I was in Fiji last year, I saw a travel agent in Nadi adveritsing return flights there. I couldn't go, as I was booked to fly back to New Zealand and then on to Chile the next day, but just out of interest, I asked how much return flights would be. I thought it was a case of mis communication when I recieved my quote as Nauru is only 1461.8 miles from Nadi, which is the same distance as from London to Marrakech (1429.09 miles). Whilst you can get return flights to Marrakech for less than £100, return flights to Nauru will cost around FJ$3000. So that's over £800!!! No wonder nobody goes to visit.


(For small country inspiration, check out http://www.oceandots.com/ - my new favourite website)

Alternative 5's.

Sometimes, when you're eating out a lot, or staying with friends who are scared of vegetables, it can be hard to get your 5 a day. And that always makes me think about unexpected places to get your vitaminy goodness...


I was quite surprised to recently discover that Heinz Spaghetti Hoops count as one of your 5 a day. I always thought of them as 'Spaghetti' (no idea where I got that thought from?) and so counted them more as a carb than a vegetable. On slightly closer inspection of a can, I discovered that they are 47% tomato, and it seems that the spaghetti has lessened and the sauce grown in order to make them more healthy. So, half a can of tomatoes is pretty good for you. Tick one. 


Cider? Anyone who's met me will know that I am a cider lover, and being from the West Country, that's exactly how it should be. Now, my favourite thing to drink is proper warm cloudy cider with only one ingredient....apples (well and a bit of yeast), and lots of them. Wikipedia tells me that you need around 10lb of apples to make a gallon of cider. So that's a lot of apples. Does this mean then that if you drink a gallon of cider, it count towards one of your 5 a day. I know that obviously all the pulp and pith will be strained out, and so it's not as good as actually eating an apple, but if apple juice is good for you, and counts as a 5 a day, how can cider not count?


Sweets. Another thing you will probably learn within minutes of meeting me is that I am a sweet addict. I have an incredibly sweet tooth and have been know to eat half a bag of Haribo instead of dinner. Oops. But what if there was some sort of goodness in there. Maybe not Haribo, but I am also a big fan of Natural Confectionery sweets, and these definitely have lots (?) of fruit juice in them. One 150ml glass of unsweetened 100% fruit or vegetable juice can count as a portion to be one of your 5 a day, so how many sweets would equal 150ml of fruit juice?


I've been doing some Googling but I haven't really found any definite information. Concentrated Fruit Juices are the 5th or 6th ingredient though, so there's obviously quite a bit in there. Maybe a few packets would be enough to be a portion of fruit, but my dentist would probably murder me!


But in my researching, I have found out that Jelly Tots are 25% fruit juice. So roughly converting fruit juice from g into ml, this would mean that 100g of jelly tots contains 25ml of fruit juice. So you would only need to eat 6 packets to get one portion of your 5 a day. Again, my dentist may kill me. And I probably wouldn't be able to sleep. 


Another alcoholic one. Wine? Main ingredient is grapes. You need to eat about 15 grapes to count this as one portion of your 5 a day. Again, after some Googling, it seems the average answer is that it take 1.2kg of grapes to make one 750ml bottle of wine, which is about 7-8 bunches or 600 - 800 grapes, and definitely a lot more than 15! So you wouldn't even need to drink a whole bottle to get a portion of fruit, although you may wish to to ensure that you have absorbed all the grapey goodness.


Lastly, how about cake. I am a great lover of cake, in all varieties (except chocolate - yuck!) but I particularly love a good gooey carrot cake. When I make it, there's at least 2 or 3 carrots, some walnuts, orange juice and sometimes pineapple in there, so surely that's 2 or 3 portions of fruit and vegetables straight away. Cooked vegetables still count as a portion so why don't vegetables cooked in cake count? Not that I have ever eaten a whole cake in one go, but if it was divided into 6 scrummy slices, that could be half of one of your 5 a day, there sorted.


I'd love for a nutritionist to read this some day and actually let me know if there is any truth in my rambles, but for now I am very happy to keep up with the cider and wine drinking, and sweet and cake eating, along side my salad nibbling.   

5 a day

I am a big follower of the 'you must eat your 5 fruit or vegetables a day' rule. I love fruit, so it's not too hard and I usually end up eating more than 5 portions, but on the odd occasion that I don't , I feel terrible. Not ill, as I doubt I'd notice after only one day, but as my mum would say 'I'm not angry, just disappointed'.

It really annoys me then, when people don't even make an attempt. I do know some very fussy people who will only eat about one type of fruit and one type of vegetable, so I suppose it would be a bit difficult for them, but even just eating a portion of each every day would still be better than nothing.

I did struggle to eat my 5 a day when I was travelling through some countries last year. In Ethiopia, where the staple dish in 'Injera' which is like a vinegary stodgy pancake, we struggled. Well actually, this was mainly because we didn't eat anything. We spent a lot of time travelling and lived mostly on bread and water, and got quite thin.

In Kenya, after 2 days in the back of a lorry, mainly surviving on biscuits and the odd 'soda' (fizzy drink - in this case Blackcurrant Fanta was the favourite, although I'm sure it didn't have even a trace of one Blackcurrant in it) and so by the end of the second day, I cracked and bought a very expensive tin of Pineapple. On first glance, I was quite pleased to see that it was 'Produce of Kenya'. However, reading the small print below, I realised that although this Pineapple had been grown in Kenya, it had then been packaged in the UK, and then shipped back to Kenya to be sold to me! Ridiculous, I would have much preferred a fresh one!

My stay in the Cook Islands was the most expensive part of my trip, especially on Aitutaki (where Shipwrecked is filmed) as there is no 'backpacker' accommodation, and so the cheapest was NZ$35 a night (Only about £17 but my average night was more like £3 or £4). Luckily, Mariati who owned the guest house, also owned a fruit plantation, and so fresh bananas, pineapples, mangoes and passion fruits were included in the price of the stay, as was toast. That's me sorted!

In Argentina, when I first landed in Buenos Aires, I'd picked up some sort of stomach virus in Peru and was feeling pretty rough. Randomly, the only thing I fancied eating (and could keep in me) was cherry tomatoes and skittles. Whilst I'm sure the cherry tomatoes did me quite a lot of good, I wonder how much nutrition I got from the Skittles?

Then, I met a group of girls, and we would wander around Buenos Aires and eat empanadas (like small pasties) all day, so then return in the evening and want to eat salad to counter balance this. Some fruit and veg, like tomatoes, apples, oranges were really expensive, but bananas and root vegetables were really cheap, as they are all grown locally, or in neighbouring countries.

I was in heaven when I discovered that you could buy an entire large Butternut Squash for less than 50p!! The sort of size that would cost at least £3 here. Amazing!

It really annoyed me then, when I got back to England and saw a programme about a family of really obese people living just outside Buenos Aires, who claimed that they wanted to eat healthily, but could only afford cheap fatty meat. They were filmed going into the supermarket and holding up one apple and all tutting over the price, and then left the fruit and veg section. Now I realise that apples were expensive and definitely out of the budget of the poorer families there. But potatoes, carrots, bananas, squashes were all passed by, and these were easily affordable and much less than the cheapest pasta and crisps.

Equally, it annoys me in England. There is an obesity crisis and no one can deny that as a population, we are getting fatter and fatter. It suits me in some ways, as it means children's clothes are made in bigger sizes to accommodate the expanding younger generation, and so I can easily buy children's clothing, but it is worrying. Again, you read reports of poor families saying they'd love to eat fruit and vegetables, but just can't afford to. Yet they can afford to eat McDonald's.

I read a report in the Metro (apologies if this means it's not true) recently, saying that you can eat your 5 a day for 42p a day. People sometimes only think of fresh fruit and veg, when of course, you can count frozen, tinned and juiced fruit and vegetables. This seems amazingly cheap and unrealistic, but then not so much when you actually look at how much, a tin of basic peaches, costs. Considering there are usually 2 portions in a tin, that's less than 10p for one portion. Sorted.

Sainsburys also seem to be on a mission to make the 5 a day accessible and so fruit and vegetables are always on offer, making it easy to eat healthily...but sometimes I wonder where else I could get my 5 a day from?